SPRING PRACTICE PERIOD: Stories from the Lotus Sutra

Dogen-Zenji so cherished the Lotus Sutra that he actually carved a selection of it into his door. This, the core text of not only Zen but the whole of Mahayana Buddhism, has never lost its appeal among practitioners of the Way. Join us for our SPRING PRACTICE PERIOD: Stories From the Lotus Sutra led by Sensei Joshin Byrnes, Sensei Genzan Quennell

05-29-2014: A Culture of Awakening (Part 2a)

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Episode Description: This first lecture of the program is entitled Religion, Faith, and the Sublime. Stephen begins by offering some Western perspectives on the words “religion” and “faith.” Anglican theologian Don Cupitt feels that a religious activity is one in which “we seek to come to terms with our birth and death,” and that religion is “how we reconcile ourselves with having to be born and having to die.” For philosopher and theologian Paul Tillich, faith is “a state of being ultimately concerned,” and God is “that about which one is ultimately concerned.” The historical buddha, Siddattha Gotama, used the words “deathless,” “unconditioned,” and “nirvana” to refer to “that about which one is ultimately concerned.” Rather than using these words to refer to something transcendent, however, the buddha infused them with new meaning. The buddha defined all three of these words as the “ending of greed, the ending of hatred, and the ending of moha,” a term variously translated as confusion, delusion, ignorance, and perhaps most appropriately, a kind of bored inner fog. In order to free ourselves from this “arid” state of being, a state “lacking vitality,” and to live life fully, the buddha prescribes first and foremost a meditation practice grounded in mindfulness of breathing. The buddha describes “dwelling” in mindfulness of the breath and body as a dignified, upright, sacred, and authentic practice. The clear indication is that we are to translate the authenticity we tap into during meditation into a way of life in which we dwell in the world with a quality of lucid courage and fearlessness.